The "New" New Tourism Law

The past three years I have spent time - above and beyond the call of duty - trawling through pages upon pages of Balearic tourism legislation. It had seemed, in June 2012, that further time would be unnecessary, but no. Remarkable though it is, the law of 2012 was not the finished article. How strange the legislative process is here that three years later, this very law can be presented as the "new" law, though there is in fact quite a bit that is new and that has been added.

These differences have chiefly been integrated in the pursuit of "consensus", one that tourism minister Jaime Martínez says has been achieved. He is right up to a point in that even those sectors of the tourism industry which might still have disagreements with him have put them to one side in displaying a show of unity for the Partido Popular; they have all broken out in a cold sweat at the very mention of Podemos or a pact of the left.

We will find out how real this consensus is, but in the meantime we have to come to terms with what is the definitive tourism law document, signed by President Bauzá and minister Martínez and posted on the Official Bulletin on 17 April. For media and PR purposes, a highlight of this "new" new law is the provision for dealing with party boats, a matter - in the scheme of things - of relative inconsequence. But it is one that makes for a good headline and is far less dull than, for example, all the appendices showing the sizes and colours of establishment classification.

While there will doubtless be those who consider party boats to be of utmost importance, my principal interests - as they have been over these three years - concern private holiday accommodation, all-inclusives and resort development. True to form, private apartments remain excluded from regulation and so "illegal" unless they are rented out under the tenancy act. Terraced houses, i.e. ones with houses to both sides, which had also been excluded, are no longer. Otherwise, it is as you were.

When the law was introduced (sort of) in 2012, hotels were to be required to come up with quality plans. It was these which appeared to form the basis of possibly tighter regulation of all-inclusives, and the new version of the law does give some detail as to how these plans are to be submitted. However, they apply to all hotels and not just those which offer all-inclusive and they require self-evaluation, which would then be subject to verification from inspection. But crucially, there is nothing specific to the all-inclusive offer in this; it is a quality system geared towards star categorisation.

What the law does include is a requirement for all hotels to register their offer of "pensión completa integral" - which means all-inclusive - be this offer optional or unique. It also demands that this offer is explained in publicity material. But then, many hotels already do this. As for registering all-inclusive offer, what is the purpose of this information? If it is for quality purposes, then star categorisation is not how this has to be ensured. All-inclusives, the large, cheaper ones, offer regimes of service and room quality and overcrowding that need to be dealt with, and the star system only partially addresses these. Will inspection lead to improvements? This would be very doubtful. A recent report showed that the tourism inspectors - twenty of them in all - spend mostly all their time on illegal apartments and bars and restaurants.

Martínez proudly says that the law now regulates all-inclusives' quality plans, but this, one fancies, is a statement for political (and electoral) purposes. Study the law closely, and this is not the impression one gets. He also says that the level of all-inclusive is decreasing. Is it really? If so, where? Moreover, how can he possibly say that it is if the all-inclusive offer hasn't previously been registered? He's talking nonsense.

On resort development, there is a good deal about "intervention" in touristic areas and declarations of "touristic interest" which amount to what has already been put in place for facilitating improvements in so-called "mature (outdated/obsolete) zones", e.g. Playa de Palma. But establishing these principles in law doesn't mean that they are acted upon in practice. Some time soon, I am due to meet President Bauzá, and one of the preliminary questions I have sent him has to do with the very subject of resort regeneration, of which, apart from Playa de Palma and Magalluf, there is very little. On becoming president, he said that this regeneration could not be delayed. Yet his government has spent virtually nothing on it. And why hasn't it? Because it talks about the necessity but leaves it to others, thus showing no strategic and financing leadership.